Month: June 2018

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Sewer Pipe Tie In

Day #11

June 5, 2018 – Today I finished the sewer pipe tie in to the existing lateral. Now both the bathroom sink and the toilet flow into the septic tank. Provisions were made to tie in the kitchen sink in the future. Also began to backfill the sewer and drain trenches with pea gravel. 

Demo’d the rotted out window/door panels in the back bedroom. Installed a new stud wall with exterior grade plywood and dried it in with a layer of #15lb felt. We worked until it was dark. The new window installation will wait for another day.

 

Sewer Pipe Tie In & Pea Gravel Backfill
Backfilling the sewer lateral with pea gravel.

 

Wood Rot
Wood rot.

 

Demo'd Opening
Rotted window/door panels removed.

 

New Stud Wall
New stud and exterior plywood wall dried in.
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Sewer Piping Repair

Day #10

June 4, 2018 – Today I got all the new pipe and fittings sorted and laid out. I finished digging up the existing sewer piping. Inside the bathroom I removed the toilet. Outside I started the sewer piping repair.

Tomorrow I should be able to tie in the new piping to what remains of the existing sewer lateral.

We sized up the rotted out bedroom window/door panels. Took another trip to Lowe’s to get studs, plywood and a window for the replacement work.

Once again had dinner at Wingman’s.

 

Sewer Piping Repair
New plumbing pipe and fittings.

 

Sewer Piping Repair Trench Excavation
Trench excavation for existing sewer piping.
 
 
Bathroom Toilet Removed
Bathroom toilet removed.
 
Rotted Windows
Rotted out window/door panels to be removed.
 
Harley's At Wingman's
Admiring the nice Harley’s at Wingman’s.
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Plumbing Supplies

Day #9

June 3, 2018 – Today we watched a Gray Catbird mother count her chicks, went to the Lowe’s to get some plumbing supplies, checked out Spuds McKenzie’s long lost cousin, Lewistown Louie and had dinner at the Wingman Brew-N-Que. Not a very productive construction day.

Tomorrow I’ll start the sewer piping repair.

Gray Catbird Nest
Momma Catbird counting her chicks.

 

Plumbing Supplies
Plumbing Supplies

 

Lewistown Louie
Lewistown Louie guarding his beer stash.

 

Wingman Brew-N-Que
Special drink at Wingman Brew-N-Que.
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Sewer Piping

Day #8

June 2, 2018 – Today I dug up the sewer piping from the bathroom and discovered that the 4 inch elbow coming from the toilet waste had a crack in it. Also discovered that the bathroom sink is on it own 4 inch drain lateral.

I was hoping that the sink drain and toilet waste piping came together somewhere but that was not the case. I dug out from the cottage 12 feet and they did not meet up. 

Rather than dig all the way to the septic tank we’ll install new 4 inch schedule 40 pvc piping and tying them together outside the edge of what will be the new porch foundation. I hope that this will hold up well into the future.

 

Sewer Piping Cracked Elbow - Toilet Waste
Cracked Elbow – Toilet Waste

 

Sewer Piping Drain & Waste Laterals
Separate 4 inch sink drain and toilet waste laterals running parallel.

 

Sewer Piping Drain & Waste Laterals
Separate 4 inch lines for the bathroom sink and the toilet.

Tomorrow we will have to make a trip to Lowe’s for sewer piping supplies.

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#arsonsquad

Day #7

May 26, 2018 – Today, the #arsonsquad showed up and burned the 1950’s Yellow Couch. Codster stopped in for a visit and Henry got his first Cottage bath.

As far as the demolition / renovation went….

Outside the cottage, we broke up and removed the rest of the concrete slab by the living room door.

All of the Rhododendrons were cut down in front of the cottage. Unfortunately we knocked down a Cardinal nest in the process. Phil tried to relocate it to another rhododendron bush but we were not sure if that would work.

With the rhododendrons gone we can locate and tie in the sewer lateral from the new kitchen sink location.

Inside the cottage we finished the drywall and insulation removal from the living room wall behind the Warm Morning stove.

 

#arsonsquad
#arsonsquad
Burning Yellow Couch
Burning Man Yellow Couch
Codester
The Codester.

 

Henry's Cottage Bath
Henry gets his first cottage bath.
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Wood Stove Removal – Warm Morning

Day #6

May 19, 2018 – Today I removed the Warm Morning coal / wood stove. In it’s day it was an awesome stove and it certainly fulfilled it’s mission. Additionally,  part of the drywall behind the stove was demo’d. More vintage newspaper was found underneath the stove.

We also turned on the water this weekend and discovered two leaking elbows underneath the cottage. These will need fixed on a future visit.

Cleaning out the dressers we discovered three baby mice. They immediately became fish food in the Juniata River.  Needless to say, Robrandi freaked! 

Warm Morning Coal / Wood Stove
Warm Morning Coal / Wood Stove
Old Newspaper
Old newspaper found under the Warm Morning Stove.
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Concrete Porch Slab

Porch Slab Demo

Day #5

May 12, 2018 – Completing the porch roof demolition allows us to remove the concrete porch slab. Today we began this process with an electric jackhammer. Very quickly we discovered that there were actually two layers of slabs.

The first slab layer is inside the frost wall. Because it is not attached correctly to the frost wall, over time it settled. To overcome the settlement a second slab was placed on top of the first slab. This second slab contained chicken wire which proved more difficult to remove.

At the end of the day the only remaining concrete slab was a section located at the living room door. We will remove this at a later date.

Electric Jack Hammer
Troy on electric jack hammer.
Concrete Rubble Pile
Concrete rubble pile.
Porch Slab Removed
Porch slabs removed.

Next weekend the plan is to remove the wood stove from inside the cottage. Hopefully, our demo subcontractor can be haul it away with the concrete rubble pile and the frost wall.

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Porch Roof Demolition

Porch Roof Demo

Day #3

May 5, 2018 – The chimney removal is complete. Today I will began the porch roof demolition. This includes the metal roofing, the roof plank and the framing. 

It would be nice to re-claim the pine roof planking. We need to find a good use for it later on in the project.

Knocked off around 4:30 PM then headed to Tony’s Cottage Inn over in Burnham to watch the Kentucky Derby. After the Derby ran I headed over to Wingman Brew & Cue for dinner. It was a good day.

Tomorrow I should be able to finish the porch roof demolition.

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Chimney Demolition

Chimney Demolition

Day #2

May 4, 2018 – Chimney demolition today. The demolition consists of breaking up and removing the concrete block and the the terracotta flue liner. This demo needs completed in advance of the porch roof removal.  We will haul away the debris from the chimney after we break up the concrete porch slabs. 

Several years ago I rebuilt this chimney. As I was tearing the old chimney down, I discovered a hole in the flue pipe at the stud wall. The oak plank wall sheathing was burned and looked like charcoal. Surprisingly, the cottage hadn’t burned to the ground.

Using a hammer and chisel I made quick work of the chimney demolition.